Stick of Licorice
by Little Puff
Summary: Callie is a clarinetist forced to move away from the life and band she loves. Now she is stuck in a band with hardly any musical skills and they can't stand each other. Will Callie be able to pull these kids together to become the band they should be?
1. Moving

Callie Hudson stared out the front right side window of her grandfather's old Chevy pick-up truck. She had the window rolled down just enough to let her long, dirty blonde, curly hair flutter lightly at the passing wind created by the truck speeding down the road at fifty-five miles per hour. She had her head resting in her right hand, her elbow propped on the arm rest. She sighed as she watched the passing scenery fly by as her grandfather drove her to her doom.

She could not believe that after three years of high school that her grandfather had decided to move them to, from what she had heard, a small, and not-much-there town for her to start her senior year in. When he had first told her that they were moving, Callie had been speechless. When she had found her voice, she argued that they could not possibly move now, not with her senior year coming up. He had calmly explained to her that he had found a better job at a factory in this town called Asheville, and that by taking this position he could make them a better life. Callie had argued back that she was comfortable with the way they lived now, and that after her senior year she would be going on to college where he would no longer have to support her. He had shot down her hopes for staying when he told her he had already accepted the job.

Every now and again, Callie could see out of the corner of her left eye, her grandfather glancing over at her when she sighed. He had told her that he did not want her to be angry with him for deciding what was best for them, and that he hoped she was not mad at him. Callie had continued to pack her belongings in boxes, acting as if she could not hear him. For the whole week he had stayed out of her way, and only told her good morning, I love you, and good night. Callie could tell that it deeply hurt him for her to be mad at him for something he thought was the right decision. However, her stubbornness kept her from saying anything to him the whole week leading up to what she had labeled Doomsday.

Now, that week had passes by her so fast she felt that she had not properly finished the school year or had said good bye to her friends to a degree that satisfied her. She felt as if the final week with her friends and her school had been wasted due to her negative thoughts about leaving everyone and everything she loved behind. She reflected on her last week, and out of the whole mess of things clearly remembered her last day with her dearest friends, her band friends.

"Oh, I wish you didn't have to leave us, Callie," her best friend, Eva whimpered Thursday morning during band. "Who's going to be first clarinet?"

"I suppose you are," Callie had answered her with a smile. "Besides, I think it's time you took charge of this section."

Ever since the start of her band career in sixth grade, Callie had always either been first or second chair, switching back and forth with Eva. Almost immediately, the other clarinets recognized her and Eva to be the "leaders" of the section since they seemed so good. Yet, Eva never wanted to take control of anything which had aggravated their Middle School Band Director, and which would later aggravate their High School Band Director as well. Eva had always let Callie run the show when it came to playing the solos and the hard parts of their music. Over time, as a result of Eva's actions, Callie had become the section leader of the clarinets.

Later that period, her band director, Mr. Caudell, called her into his office to talk to her about what she meant to the band.

"Callie," he had said, "I just wanted to let you know how much I hate losing you. This program needs you, but unfortunately for us we can not keep you. I wish you the best of luck in your new school, and I also want to say that they will be lucky to have you. You have contributed to many successes for this program and for yourself, and I just wanted to say that I am proud of you, and if you decide to come back, we will happily take you in again."

His words kept echoing in her head as she continued to stare at the blur of trees and grass and road signs they passed. She suddenly jumped out of her reverie as she felt something heavy on her leg, and looked down to see her grandfather's hand resting a little above her knee. She stared at his hand for a moment before glancing up at him, and then quickly turned her attention back out the window.

"You can't stay mad at me forever, you know?" He whispered as he took turns looking at her, then out the windshield, then back at her.

Callie remained silent. It was true that she had a tendency to break down after a while of practically shunning him. They had been through too much to be separated by anger and sadness.

Four years ago they had faced what seemed like total devastation when Callie's parents had been killed by a drunk driver. Callie's mother had been her grandfather's daughter. She had received the dreadful news from her grandfather while in school. It was her eighth grade year, and it just happened she was in band. The principal herself had come to the band room to fetch her, and from the expression on her face, Callie could sense something was horribly wrong. She had followed the principal to her office when she saw her grandfather sitting in a chair opposite the principal's desk, tear stains on his cheeks and his eyes red and swollen. It was not often that her grandfather cried for he was a large man with large hands, feet, shoulders, head, deep voice, and a pot belly. From his state, Callie started crying herself without knowing the reason why. When her grandfather had explained the situation, Callie cried harder than she ever had in her life, and was thankful that he was there with her.

Callie remembered the following days, weeks, months, and years after the crash, and remembered how awful she and her grandfather had felt. For her sake, he kept on with his job and pretended to be alright so he could be strong for her. Callie on the other hand, was not strong at all. She lost interest in everything she once loved, including band. She remembered her band director, Miss Mirren, being there for her during school, and how she had explained to her that band would keep her mind off her parents' deaths. Reluctantly and half-heartedly, she had agreed to stay, and in her opinion, it was the best decision she had ever made.

"Callie, I know you don't want to move, and I completely understand that," her grandfather continued, glancing at her.

Quickly turning to face him she angrily said, "Then why are you doing this?"

"I want you to have better," he explained as though the answer was obvious. "I want you to have whatever you want. Also it's your senior year, and your senior year is not exactly cheap."

She rolled her eyes at him, and turned her attention back out the window. He did not seem to understand that she was not concerned with money and how much she had to spend. She would gladly trade all the money she had to stay with her friends.

They drove on another twenty minutes without saying a word. Suddenly the blur of scenery came into clearer focus as her grandfather slowed the truck to stop, and turned off the main road into the dirt parking lot of an old diner. Callie stared at the rusty, weather-beaten trailer that was the Robin's Nest 24 hour diner. She then turned to face her grandfather who was staring at her with a grin on his face.

"Do you remember coming here?"

"Should I," she asked, staring at a dirty looking, middle aged man who stepped out onto the wobbly, moldy, wood steps and cussed as his foot fell through.

"A long time ago your mother, father, and I brought you here with some of our friends. We wanted to also show you off to Dottie, a waitress who used to work here."

"Oh, I feel so special," she replied, watching the man getting heaved back up into the trailer by three of his friends, two of which appeared to be drunk.

"Well, let's go in and grab a bite, shall we," he asked, opening his door and heaving himself out of the truck. He then walked around to Callie's side and opened the door for her. He held his massive, work-worn hand out to her to assist her, but she refused it and hopped out by herself. He frowned slightly at her refusal and slammed the door shut.

Cautiously Callie approached the front steps where the four men still stood, continuing to swear at each other, the steps, and a little old waitress that she could only hear.

"Well, if all y'all weren't so fat I wouldn't have to pay money to get all my steps replaced with new ones!" the old waitress hollered.

Callie stared down at the steps and thought to herself that they needed to be replaced as her grandfather walked up beside her and listened in to the argument.

"Dottie," yelled the man who had gotten his foot stuck, "those steps have been here ever since you opened up this dump forty years ago! It's due time they were fixed!"

At that all the men grunted in agreement then carefully made their way down onto the parking lot. Callie quickly looked away trying to avoid any confrontation with these men; however, one of the drunks saw her looking and decided to say something.

"What are you looking at little girl!"

Callie looked at him with wide eyes and stammered, "N-n-n-nothing!"

Slowly the drunk stumbled towards her, and in an instant Callie saw her grandfather move in front of her. Just when the drunk was about to lunge at him, a gun fired closely beside them. Everyone jumped and looked towards the shot and saw a little old woman in an old diner uniform holding a smoking shotgun.

"That's enough, Daryl," the old woman hollered. "Those two are my friends you old drunk skunk!"

"Shoot, Dottie, I wasn't gonna hurt them," the drunk man named Daryl whined.

"Go on, get out of here!"

Slowly the four men turned and walked to their old cars and trucks and drove away. Callie's grandfather turned to her and asked, "Are you alright, baby girl?"

Callie looked up at him and nodded as the woman named Dottie made her way over to them. Her grandfather turned to face the little old woman and said, "I'm glad you were here, Dottie, or I may have had to get rough in front of my granddaughter."

"Oh, you would have done no such thing you old geezer," Dottie teased, winking at Callie as she said it. "Why don't you come on in, Jack, it's been a while."

Jack gestured for Callie to go ahead of him and follow Dottie into the diner. Cautiously she followed Dottie up the old stairs and into the cramped, dingy diner that had cigarette smoke hanging in the air.

Dottie turned to her and yelled over the clamor of voices, glasses hitting the table tops, knives and forks scraping plates, and an old jukebox playing Elvis Presley's "You Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog", "I'll get you a table in the back corner! No one will bother you there, and the smoke isn't so bad!"

Callie nodded her approval for she was anxious to get away from whatever she could. She could not imagine being a little baby, and being shown off to a place like this. She hoped it had been a little cleaner and nicer back then.

Dottie sat her and Jack down at the table and placed two menus in front of them. She whispered something in Jack's ear, then he whispered something back in hers, and then she nodded and walked away. Callie had been watching them talk, but when Dottie walked away she returned her attention back to her menu.

"I think you'll like this, baby girl," Jack said to her, leaning across the table so that she could hear him.

"Attention, attention everyone," Dottie yelled, standing in the middle of the diner. Surprisingly everybody heard her and the clamor died down immediately, and in the back by the jukebox, an older man hit the jukebox so it would quit playing.

"Thank you," Dottie said to all of them. "I want to tell you that we have two special guests here with us! One of them is my dear friend, Jack Bowman, who hasn't come to see me in years, and his granddaughter, Callie Hudson, who is going to be a senior in High School this year!"

Everyone in the diner craned their necks to see them both, and Callie shrunk down in her seat as far as she could to avoid all their eyes.

"Now, from what Jack has told me, Callie is one heck of a clarinet player, and I thought I could add a little class to this dump y'all have made it if she would be so kind as to play us a couple of songs."

Everyone in the diner clapped, hollered, and whistled all except one man who asked his buddy, "What's a clarinet?"

Callie stared at him with one eyebrow raised and shook her head. However, Callie always loved to be in the spotlight, playing an impressive piece of music from either Beethoven or Bach, but she figured that would be way over this crowd's heads. Reluctantly she rose from her seat and yelled to Dottie, "Okay, okay, I'll be right back."

The crowd cheered as she left to get her instrument, pep band music folder, and her foldable stand out of the truck. When she came back, they had cleared a spot in the middle of the diner for her to set up and play. As she was setting up everything, she could sense the eyes of the place on her, watching her every move. When her instrument was together, her stand up to the height she wanted, and her folder opened to her favorite song, she asked the crowd, "Any requests?"

Another older lady in the back of the crowd shrieked out, "Do you have any us old folks would know?"

"Well," she said, flipping through the sheets of her binder, "do you know any songs from the seventies and eighties?"

They all clapped their hands to tell her they did. She thumbed through her music some more until she came upon a piece she was sure would be a hit with them. It was "Carry on my Wayward Son" by Kansas. She wet her reed for a few seconds, placed it on the mouth piece, tightened the ligature, and played B flat scale to get in tune. As soon as she was ready, she let loose and played.

All of them were a wonderful audience. They cheered and clapped and urged her to play more. She was on her third song "Dirty Deeds" by ACDC when Dottie walked over to where Jack was sitting at his table, and took the seat opposite him.

"She's wonderful," Dottie bragged, watching Callie working the crowd.

"Yes, she is," Jack agreed watching her too.

"Why did you decide all of a sudden to uproot yourselves and move to this neck of the woods for," Dottie asked, still not taking her eyes off Callie.

"I found a better job," Jack told his reason again.

"Oh, no, Jack," Dottie said, shaking her head at him. She then turned to face him and said, "You loved where you were and the job that you had. What is going on, Jack?"

Jack smiled a little and chuckled. He knew that Dottie would be the only one to see through him. He sighed as he met her eyes and explained, "Alright, alright, you caught me. The real reason for the move is one of my best buddies from the army is the Band Director for Asheville High School. He just retired at the end of this year, and he called me voicing his concerns. He told me his band was struggling, not only with the music, but with themselves. They are not exactly what you would call a band."

"Oh, Jack, I could have told you that," Dottie whispered across the table to him. "You should hear them when they march in parades, or football games, or at the basketball games, and don't even get me started on graduation. In short, Jack, they are terrible. I don't blame old Jed for retiring and getting out while he still has his sanity."

"That's why I've moved Callie down here, Dottie," Jack explained. "I told Jed about her and Jed asked if we couldn't help. Well, the only way we could help was to move."

"Do you mean to tell me, Jack Bowman," Dottie whispered in a deadly voice, "that you have taken away poor Callie's life to stick her with a terrible band for an old army buddy?"

"Yes," Jack answered, staring down at an old cigarette burn, "but she won't just be part of it; she will be in charge of it."

"How do you figure that?"

"Jed told the principal about Callie, and since the school needs to save money anyway, the principal agreed to let Callie handle the Band Department! I think she will be a fantastic band director."

Dottie stared at him with an incredulous look in her eyes and on her face. After a few moments she said, "Jack Bowman that is without a doubt the dumbest idea I have ever heard! Have you told Callie about this?"

Jack slowly shook his head. He heard Dottie sigh and say, "Well, good luck to you."

She walked away leaving Jack to stare after her. He then stared at his granddaughter and watched her play, wondering if he had indeed done the right thing.


	2. Finding Out

Two hours later Jack and Callie left the diner. Callie carried her clarinet and binder while Jack carried her stand. She had been invited back by Dottie who had told her that the diner had not had that much excitement since the reverend had shown up drunk and had karaoked that Saturday night before church the next morning.

Callie looked back to see Dottie and some of the regulars hanging out of the door waving good bye to her. She put her clarinet and binder on the floor board by her feet where Jack also placed her stand. She climbed in at the same time Jack did, and as he drove away, Callie turned in her seat to wave good bye to all of them as Jack pulled onto the main road, and within seconds the diner was out of sight.

"Well," Jack asked, "did you have fun?"

"Actually, I did," Callie said, smiling for the first time in weeks. "Thank you, Grampa."

"You're welcome, baby girl."

Callie scooted over from her seat and laid her head on his shoulder. Jack wrapped his arm around her, hugging her closely to him.

"So does this mean that you aren't mad at me anymore," Jack asked, peering down at the top of her head.

"I guess," Callie giggled.

They drove on in silence for a half an hour more until Callie felt the truck slow down, and then felt the bumpiness of the road as Jack turned onto gravel. The gravel road went on for about five more minutes, and at the end of the road there stood their new house.

In Callie's opinion it was a beautiful house. It had white siding with black shudders on all the windows. It was a two story house with ivy creeping up the side. The flower beds along the front of the house were decorated with tiny bushes and small flowers, and the walk way leading to the front door had a trellis near the door with large flowers on vines that intertwined. The grass was a deep green and evenly cut and it did not have a weed in it. The edges were also neatly trimmed and weed-eated along the house. The gravel driveway disappeared and was replaced with hand laid brick to match the front walk.

Jack stopped the truck in the driveway and watched with joy and anticipation the look upon Callie's face as she continued to gaze at her new home.

"Do you like it," Jack asked with a grin on his face.

"Oh, Grampa," Callie whispered, her mouth hanging slightly open with admiration. "I think it's beautiful!"

"I had the outside done up just for you," Jack told her, putting his hand on her knee.

Callie slowly turned her head towards him; her eyes wide open to match her gaping mouth as she said, "For me, but why?"

"I know that you like working outside with flowers and stuff, so I had a landscaping company come out here and fix the place up to your satisfaction," Jack explained, his eyes twinkling like they did every time he had done anything that pleased her. "I also told the man in charge that I wouldn't pay him until you were happy with it, so are you?"

"Yes, Grampa," Callie whispered, leaning over to hug him around his middle, "I love it very much. Thank you."

"You're welcome, baby girl," he said, bending his head to kiss the top of hers. "I thought you deserved something nice for moving out here with me."

She did not say a word for a couple of seconds before she abruptly jerked her head up, flung herself towards the door and opened it, and shouted to him over her shoulder, "Let's see it up close, shall we?"

Jack smiled as he opened his door too and got out, watching her circle the flower beds, and kneeling down every once in a while to inspect a bush or a flower. He watched her do this for about ten minutes before he heard the sound of wheels on gravel, and turned to see a Ford F-150 pick-up truck coming up the drive. Only when the truck stopped on the brick driveway did Jack really see who it was, and when the man got out, Jack approached him with a smile and his hand stuck out in front of him.

"Jed O'Riley," Jack greeted in a hearty tone, "welcome!"

"Jack Bowman, long time no see," the man named Jed boomed, taking Jack's hand and shaking it with a firm grip.

Jed O'Riley was an old Army buddy of Jack's back during the Korean War. He was the same height as Jack which was about six foot one. He had a bushy mustache with eyebrows to match, and his eyes were grey with a friendly twinkle to them. His hair was silver and combed over to the left with not one hair out of place. Where Jack was a big man because of his belly, Jed was a big man because of his muscles.

After greeting Jack, he turned to the house and said in a husky voice, "This is a nice place, Jack. How does Callie like it so far?"

"Well," Jack answered, "I think she likes it fine. She's around here somewhere checking out the flowers and the rest of the landscape. She loves all that stuff like her mother did."

Jack stopped and stared at the ground with his arms folded across his chest. Jed had been Callie's mother's godfather, so when she died, Jed had felt as if he had lost a daughter too. Jed put his hand on Jack's shoulder and said, "I sure am sorry, Jack. If there was one person in the world who didn't deserve to die it was Taylor and if there was one family who didn't deserve to go through all this it's yours."

Jack looked up and nodded and when he did so his eyes fell on Callie. When he saw her, she was the spitting image of her mother. Jack's heart ached every time he thought about Callie and Taylor and how much alike they were.

Jed cleared his throat to bring Jack back from his thoughts and quickly asked, trying to change the subject, "I bet Callie was excited when you told her the news, huh?"

"No," Jack answered simply, still staring at Callie messing in the flowers.

"What do you mean 'no'", Jed asked clearly shocked. "Does she not want the position?"

"I don't know," Jack replied finally turning to look his friend in the eye, "I haven't told her."

"You haven't told her," Jed echoed incredulously. "I came out here to fill her in on the job requirements, and you're telling me you haven't even told her that's why you moved out here?"

"Calm down, Jed," Jack said putting his finger to his lips as Callie had started to stare over at them. "You can tell her."

"No, sir," Jed said quickly, backing away from Jack. "If she is anything like her mother this isn't going to be pretty."

"No, it's not," Jack sighed, "that's why I was hoping _you_ were going to tell her."

"Ha, nice try son," Jed replied chuckling.

Jack sighed and started walking towards the house with Jed walking along beside him. When they reached the flower bed by the porch where Callie was doing her inspection, Jack put a finger through her back belt loop and said, "Callie, Jed and I need to talk to you about something. Would you mind coming in?"

"I don't have much of a choice, do I," Callie asked as Jack started dragging her up the porch steps by her belt loop.

When they got to the door, Jack let go and opened the door for her to enter the house. He held the door open for Jed and he entered last. He had yet to see the house since two weeks ago when he had given the last instructions for the renovations, and it was stunning. There was a crystal chandelier hanging in the foyer just beyond the front door. The paint on the walls was red with white trim along the ceiling and floor. The floors were oak wood floors and the furniture was antique yet new. The appliances and technology in the house was cutting edge.

Callie, Jed, and Jack could do nothing for a while but stare at the beauty of the house. After a few moments Jack said, "Let's go into the family room and talk."

Callie and Jed followed him into the family where Callie had a seat on the sofa and Jed sat in a chair diagonal to her while Jack stood by the marble fireplace.

"Callie," Jed began nervously, looking back over his shoulder to Jack who nodded him on, "has your grandfather told you why you have moved out here and switched schools?"

"He said it was because he found a better job and he wanted more for us than what we had," Callie explained looking from Jed to Jack. "Why?"

"Well…," Jed hesitated.

"That's not the reason, baby girl," Jack answered from his place by the fireplace.

Callie was silent for a moment as she stared at her grandfather and whispered, "What? I don't understand."

"We moved out here because Jed asked a favor of me," Jack cut her off. Then, taking a deep breath he added, "and of you as well."

"A favor," Callie echoed silently now staring at Jed. "What can I possibly do? If it was just a simple favor, then why did we have to move?"

"It's not a simple favor, Callie," Jed chimed in again. "It's a major favor."

Callie stared at him for a couple of minutes before she asked, "Well, then what is it?"

"As you may or may not know I am the Asheville band director who is retiring this summer," Jed explained. "I need a person to take my place who knows music, knows what's going on, and most importantly, knows what it takes to have a good band."

Callie listened, nodding all the while. So far she did not see her connection with this.

"I would like you to take my place, Callie. Your grandfather told me all about you a month ago, and I simply had to meet you and see for myself."

"See what," Callie barked.

"See if you were finally the one who could bring my band back from the chaos it has put itself in," Jed whispered.

Callie narrowed her eyes and looked to her grandfather who moved from his place and made his way over to her. When he reached her side, he knelt down and whispered, "We would like you to attend a week of band camp with these students and see what you think, because right now you are all they've got, or the band program gets cut for good."


	3. Confidence

"So let me get this straight," Callie said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she often did when she was upset. "You want me to teach this band, not just how to play music, but how to play it together _and_ march?"

Jack and Jed nodded. Callie looked between the two men for a moment, and then busted into laughter. Jack and Jed looked at each other confused; not really understanding what was so funny about all this.

After a minute, Callie had to take a breath. She got up from the couch and talking to both men chuckled, "Oh, that's a good one!"

Callie walked to the front door as Jack moved from the fireplace and followed her. Before she could open it, Jack reached out and grabbed her arm.

"What?" Callie asked still grinning.

"Jed is not joking, baby girl," Jack explained in an authoritative tone. "He really wants you, and needs you, to take this position."

Callie stared at her grandfather's stone cold features a minute, then with the grin slowly disappearing from her face asked quietly, "So you guys aren't just messing with me?"

"No," Jed's voice boomed as he walked up beside them, "I need you to fill this position. If you don't then the school will be forced to close the program down."

"That's what I don't understand," Callie explained impatiently, "why can't the school hire a band director who actually has a degree in this subject. I'm sure band directors are not that hard to find."

"That costs money, Callie," Jed told her, "money that the school doesn't have. They explained to me as clear as crystal that unless I got someone to do it for free or for very little, that the band would cease to exist."

Callie stared at him, trying to process all of this information. When she finally found her tongue, she simply had to ask one question.

"Why me when you could get someone who at least knows what they're doing?"

"Because I like you, Callie," Jed said, narrowing his eyes as if seeing her for the first time. "A young lady such as you is very rare in the world we live in today. You see, I need someone who is kind and compassionate while also being tough and show discipline. I need someone who is a good teacher, but who can also be a good friend. I also need someone who teaches music, not for the money, but because they love being around music. I believe that person is you. You seem to be a good leader, focused, determined, patient, hard-working, and strong. What you have to offer is what this band needs. Now, please, will you come with me tomorrow for their first day of summer band?"

Callie simply stood there, staring into Jed's grey eyes. After a moment, Callie sighed and said, "Fine, I'll go with you tomorrow to see what it's all about."

Jed let out a small sigh of relief as he said, "Thank you, Callie. I'll be here to pick you up at about nine thirty in the morning."

Callie nodded to show she understood. Jed then looked at Jack, held out his hand and said, "Well, I guess I had better get going."

"Alright," Jack said as he shook Jed's hand. "I will see you around."

With that Jed moved to the door, bowed his head to Callie, and then walked out of the door into the blinding sunlight out to his truck. A few seconds later, Callie and Jack heard a rumbling of an engine as Jed drove back up the gravel road as the roar of the engine slowly faded away.

"I'm proud of you," Jack said quietly after a second.

"Why," Callie asked, looking up to him with her eyes somewhat narrowed.

"Well, you decided to give this thing a chance," Jack replied, pushing open the screen door and walking out into the warm sunlight. "You didn't just throw the possibility away."

"I wanted to," Callie answered after a moment of thinking about his comment, "but something inside said to try it. I don't know."

Callie pushed the screen open too and followed Jack around the house. They often took walks when one of them was sad, worried, mad, happy, excited, and all other possible emotions. They walked to the back of the house where there was a small wooded area. They walked into the mass of trees and didn't stop until they had gone about a quarter of a mile in when they came to a small creek. They found a large boulder that could seat the both of them easily and sat down, staring into the creek for a while until Callie finally broke the calming silence.

"I'm scared about this, Grampa."

Jack looked down at her and saw that she was staring blankly at the trickling water. On few occasions he had seen her scared. Most of the time she was fearless, always the first to jump into the stickiest of situations, and she did not mind getting dirty. He was a bit surprised to hear her admit her fears.

"Oh and why is that?"

Callie looked up at him, her large, dark brown eyes boring into his bluish gray ones, and he thought he saw a trace of embarrassment and a little hopelessness in them. After a few seconds she said, "I've never _taught _my peers before. How will I know what to do? What do I say to them? How do I act? I mean, I'm their age and maybe even younger than a few of them. How do I get them to listen to me and trust me enough to get them to follow me?"

Jack studied her face for a moment, a deep frown etched into his lined and wrinkled face. He could see where she was coming from, but how could he answer her truthfully? He had never been in this predicament before so how could he say that he understood where she was coming from? He let out a mental sigh knowing he could not so he gave her the best response he could come up with.

"Baby girl, I don't know what you're going through so I will save you the hypocrisy. However, I can tell you one thing that will answer all your questions. One, how you get them to trust you, follow you, and listen to you is _up to you_. How you act and what you say is _up to you_. Lastly, how you teach them is _up to you_. No one can tell you how to do this job, only _you_. I will be honest with you that when Jed first told me what he wanted you to do, I wasn't all that thrilled and I turned him down flat."

Callie snapped her head up and surveyed him shrewdly, "Then why did you give in for?"

"Well," Jack sighed, looking away from her to the creek, "when Jed had a chance to explain everything to me, which took him several tries, he finally convinced me that he thought you could do this job. After I heard what he had to say, I can honestly say now that I believe you are the best person for the job."

Callie softened her glare just a little as she heard the confidence in his voice. She looked down and shook her head lightly. This action did not go unnoticed by Jack who frowned at her and said sternly, "I believe after tomorrow you will think the same thing as well. We all have faith in you, Callie that you will turn this band around."

Callie looked up into her grandfather's hard, stern eyes and nodded. When she looked back down again, Jack softened his stare, kissed her on the top of her head and whispered, "I have faith in you, just remember that, baby girl."

He got up and made his way back to the house, leaving Callie there alone to think over her situation.


	4. Technique

At seven thirty the next morning, Callie's alarm clock buzzed. She groaned as she turned over and hit the top of the clock to get it to stop. Slowly she opened her eyes and had almost forgotten that she had slept with her grandfather in the living, and had dug the clock out of a box in order to wake her up. She looked over to the recliner chair and saw her grandfather covered up to the waist, with his mouth open and lightly snoring. Callie smiled slightly, getting up off the couch and as quietly as she could, walked over to her grandfather, and lightly pecked him a kiss good morning on the cheek.

At Callie's touch he jumped a little, looking around him curiously, probably also forgetting that he too had camped out in the living room. After a moment, his eyes rested on Callie and he smiled.

"Good morning, baby girl," Jack yawned and stretched at the same time.

Callie chuckled a little as she said, "Good morning, Grampa."

She turned to go to the bathroom where she had set up all her toiletries and other get-ready-tools when she heard him say "Are you ready for band?"

She froze for a second and then slowly turned to see him grinning, a twinkle in his eye. She sighed and moaned, "As ready as I'll ever be."

With that, she turned and ran upstairs where her bathroom was. As quickly as she could she hopped in and out of the shower, fixed her hair in a ponytail, brushed her teeth and other such necessities, got ready in something that was comfortable and cool, and hurried downstairs where she ran into the smell of bacon and toast on the staircase.

When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she saw her grandfather fixing breakfast on the stove and some of it in the microwave and toaster. Callie watched amused as she saw him struggle to handle all the appliances that he was using. Deciding he had suffered enough, she went to help him.

Fifteen minutes and a couple of burnt pieces of toasts later, Callie and Jack sat down at their table and started eating their breakfast. It went smoothly and pleasantly enough until fifteen minutes later they were interrupted by the sound of their doorbell.

"That's probably Jed," Jack observed, checking his watch for the time.

Callie wiped her mouth on her napkin, and then quickly got up to answer the door after hearing the doorbell go off again. When she reached the door and swung it open, she was greeted by Jed who was wearing a smile, the same twinkle in his gray eyes as Jack had had in his earlier. With a greeting of hello and good morning, Callie stepped out of the way so as to allow Jed to come into the house. Callie led the way into the kitchen where Jack was still sitting at the table reading the paper with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper folded in half with the other. When Jed entered, Jack set both the paper and his empty cup down and stood up to shake the man's hand.

"Anything good in that paper," Jed teased, elbowing Jack lightly in the side.

"Nope," Jack answered, shaking his head slowly from one side to the other, "it's the same ol' thing everyday: War and economy."

Jed nodded in agreement, and then shooting a look at Callie said in better spirits, "Well, I think it's time we got going. I wanted to get to the school a little earlier and go over with you what will be going on."

Callie nodded to show she understood, kissed her grandfather goodbye, and then followed Jed out the door to his truck. She climbed in and buckled her seatbelt as Jed started the ignition and the engine roared to life. Jed pulled a U-turn in the driveway, and then accelerated back up the drive where they turned onto the main road and started heading towards the school.

They drove on down the rode, neither Jed nor Callie saying a word. Callie just watched mesmerized at the passing scenery, thinking about what that morning would bring. To say she was dreading it would be an understatement. After five minutes of silence Jed said, "Are you nervous?"

Callie turned slowly at hearing his question to look him in the eye with a look on her face that said, "Duh!"

Jed laughed at the expression on her face as he said, "Yeah, well the first day I started teaching I was pretty nervous too."

"Yeah, but you're an adult," Callie said exasperated. "You weren't one of them. They were more willing to listen to a grown-up."

Jed shook his head no as he replied, "No, they had a problem with authority. Maybe since you are 'one of them', they will be more accepting of your advice."

Callie shook her head and sighed. After a moment of silence she asked quietly, "What did you do?"

"About what," Jed asked, looking over at her briefly.

"About their 'problem with authority'. How did you get them to listen?"

"Well, it took some time, and a whole lot of trial and error," Jed explained. "However, in the end, I found the technique that worked best for me and I have been using it for the past twenty years."

"What's your technique," Callie asked.

"I'm what I like to call a Pusher," Jed told her smiling to himself. "I 'push' people to do their best. I use whatever I can to 'push' them, but in the end I almost always get the result I want."

Callie slowly nodded. When she did not respond Jed continued, "There are other kinds of techniques I've seen other teachers use too. I've seen the Forcer, the Kind One, the I-Don't-Care One, the Problem Solver, and sometimes the Bully."

Jed looked over at Callie who was staring at him intently, hanging on to his every word. He studied her for a moment before he added, "I bet I know what type of technique you'll most likely use."

"Oh," Callie asked surprised, "and what would that be?"

"The Motivator," Jed grinned.

"Really," Callie asked, "why do you say that?"

"Because you don't seem like the type that would have to force anyone to do anything, or be extremely kind to them all the time to gain popularity, and you seem to care what happens to people, and I don't think you want to solve their problems to better understand them and teach them, and you certainly don't seem the type that would bully anyone into doing anything. You seem mostly to motivate people by making them believe in themselves and their abilities. You seem to bring out the good in everyone by bringing out your best. Of course I could be wrong, but that mostly seems like you."

Callie nodded slowly, thinking about what Jed had just said. Maybe that was her technique, it seemed to match her. She shrugged; she would just have to try it.

She returned her gaze out the window, but much to her surprise and dismay, Jed was already turning into the teacher parking lot of the high school. He found a parking spot and shut the engine off. Callie noticed him out of the corner of her eye watching her and asked him without looking at him, "What?"

"Are you ready to go?"

Callie sighed. She wanted to go, but she was scared. If she could have, she would have just sat in the truck until camp was over with. However, knowing that Jed would not allow her to do that she opened up her door and groaned, "Yeah, let's get this over with."


End file.
